The power of the courts to make orders in response to a contravention of a provision of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) is a broad one. It is derived from section 545(1) of the FW Act, which states:

“The Federal Court or the Federal Circuit Court may make any order the court considers appropriate if the court…

In unfair dismissal applications, the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) must look at the factors under section 387 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) when considering whether a dismissal was ‘harsh, unjust or unreasonable’.

The first of these factors is whether there was a ‘valid reason’ for the dismissal relating to…

It’s hard not to take redundancy personally even when you do see it coming. But the truth is in many cases redundancy can be a great opportunity to rediscover your skills, passions, and potential and explore job options that were previously never considered due to job security.

So how do you help your transitioning team to see the good in their redundancy while they are going through their transition period?

Remind them that it is the job that is redundant - not…

Leaders are expected to be influential and impressive. In today’s world, the most admired and respected leaders can achieve results by enabling others rather than controlling them. They motivate and engage through the way they communicate and the way they make people feel. They have ‘leadership presence’.

What is leadership presence?

Your leadership presence is aligned…

Managing workplace behaviour is a balancing act for employers and HR. Some workplace policies provide examples of unacceptable behaviour and how to deal with it, but these policies cannot hope to address all types of behaviour or prescribe every appropriate redress. Employers need to exercise some judgment when they become aware of inappropriate behaviour and consider carefully whether an employee’s conduct will warrant…

In Willmot v BlueScope Steel Limited [2017] FWC 4309, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) considered an unfair dismissal application made by an employee who was summarily dismissed for serious misconduct in relation to his worker’s compensation claim.

Mr Willmot (the Employee) was employed by BlueScope Steel Limited (Employer)…

When employers conduct an organisation-wide review of their operations, it can be both an exciting and challenging time. There are significant gains to be made by identifying inefficiencies and addressing them.  However, the desire to move too swiftly and rush this process should be avoided. Moving too fast may result in employers either intentionally or unintentionally disregarding their legal obligations to…

Whether you’re planning to fire an employee or one of your people tells you they need a chat, having to exit employees is never easy.



Firing someone is probably the most difficult thing you’ll ever have to do as a boss. By the same token, it’s hard not to take it personally when someone who you’ve nurtured tells you they’re leaving.



Yet, people resign for many reasons, most of which are beyond your control. Both scenarios can be gut wrenching, though it’s important to…

Human Resources is a constantly evolving profession that requires agility to meet the needs and objectives of organisations. HR professionals for the most part display great business acumen, relationship skills and of course technical knowledge and courage! 

“She’s good at what she does. But at the end of the day, she’s only out for herself,” said the C-Suite exec.…

These days, managing HR in a growing business is a constant task. As an HR manager, you’re probably overloaded with work and you never seem to get to the bottom of it all. It’s not unusual to rush from meeting to meeting, extinguishing fire after fire. You’re always checking your e-mail and making countless phone calls.



But there’s a big difference between being productive and just being busy. And if you’re…

During the seventies and eighties, organisations started to realise that the improper use of power and authority and undeclared and/or ineffectively managed conflicts of interest, posed a significant risk to their integrity and public trust. 

The requirement for ethical business dealings focuses the spotlight on conflicts of interests and the factors involved in creating the perception of conflicts…

The modern age continues to present us with challenges and opportunities when it comes to being at our most productive. The speed at which technology is advancing means that many companies and brands are faced with very real productivity challenges. How do you stay competitive in a market that is constantly undergoing change and evolution? At the same time, we’re presented with myriad of ways that people can be more productive, both personally and professionally. The challenge for the modern…

Routine to rare, procrastination grips most of us from time to time. Generally seen as a problem simply to overcome, we are learning that procrastination may actually be controllable, and a way to help us differentiate ourselves in a crowded workforce.

The Good and the Bad

Frequent procrastinators are often unfairly…

Should the outcome of a workplace investigation be taken on review, the integrity of the evidence, amongst other aspects, will come under scrutiny. 

In cases where documentary evidence is relevant, it can be valuable to present expert evidence or obtain an opinion from a document examiner. 

But as a recent NSW case involving document examination demonstrates, it is also…

Recently an employee who was terminated for workplace misconduct as as result of drinking too much alcohol on Anzac Day and was awarded $8229.00 after the Fair Work Commission found that her dismissal was valid but none the less harsh under the circumstances.

Avril Chapman was employed by the Tassal Group. Her job  involved scaling, slicing, weighing and packing fish.  She had  been employed since 1 August 2012 and was terminated for workplace misconduct on 1 May 2017.

On 25…

Employers and franchise operators take note. Stiff new penalties are about to come into force after reforms to protect vulnerable workers passed the Senate.

The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 also gives the Fair Work Ombudsman more muscle for evidence gathering to ensure they can carry out investigations into in the most productive manner.

The bill significantly boosts fines for …

As you move up the leadership chain, your role steadily changes from supervisor to manager to leader. Supervisors are very task oriented and the focus of their work is ensuring that outputs are met in a particular timeframe. Managers and leaders however are more focused on empowering their team members to take responsibility for their own outputs.

In the modern work environment, this requires managers and leaders to be coaches and mentors, usually to their team members but also…

We all know them; passive aggressive people.

It is that colleague who in meetings always rolls his eyes, makes snide comments and refuses to engage in any way, shape or form.

Or the co-worker who murmurs under her breath: ‘yeah, yeah, been there, done that, why are we reinventing the wheel’, and when asked to repeat out loud says: ‘never mind’ and…